Avatar: The Legend of Zhu Li
by realwritercarl
Summary: Before Zhu Li Moon was Varrick's assistant, she was a poor non-bender in Republic City. Then certain events necessitated her leaving, traveling the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation to encounter friend and foe from Tenzin to P'Li to Zuko. This is that story, which takes place after Aang's death but before Korra's rise.
1. From Dirt to Flames

She only had one pair of clothes.

Zhu Li wanted a second. However, her parents, Sheng and Xiu, would never buy her another. Her father, his mind unyielding, remained convinced that the little money her family had should be spent elsewhere. And her mother forever agreed with him.

But on this day, finally, she felt determined to resolve the matter herself. Change clinking in her pocket as she walked, she imagined what the new clothes would look like. Vibrant, not faded. And thick with life, not wrinkled and worn down.

Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored it. The market was up ahead, and a few earthbender kids stood outside, playing catch with some rocks.

She watched them for a moment. _If I could bend_, she thought, _it'd solve all my problems._

Everyone liked a bender.

She entered the market, looking around for a seller who carried clothing. She passed by stalls with fruits, meats, and even toys. Almost all of the sellers wore nicer things than her. She had to fight the urge to not look down at her own clothes and compare.

She needed something ordinary, but also, what the girls at her school called stylish. She didn't really understand what made some clothes stylish and others not, but she could ascertain from when they'd called certain kinds of clothes stylish which ones definitely were.

She found the clothes at a stall near the center of the market. A tall man with glasses and a rectangular face looked up at her. He smiled wide, and she found that somehow infectious. She grinned, for maybe the first time in a week, as she approached him.

"You - _you _look like you could use some clothes!" the man exclaimed.

Zhu Li nodded. That's what she was here for.

"What'll it be?" he said. "Something sparkly?"

And he brought out a glittering white shirt. She thought it was too flashy, and shook her head.

"How about something serious?"

He brought out a plain green thing. She thought about this one for a moment. But it was not one of the kinds that the girls at school had spoken fondly about. It looked good enough to her, but she wasn't taking any risks. She shook her head.

"Well then," the man replied. "How about the best we have?"

And he brought out something in between.

Now this one, she thought, it was almost identical to a shirt she'd seen the week before. The girls at her school had all loved it. She nodded, indicating she'd take it.

The man also helped her pick a pair of pants, and some new socks. Then he tallied the total for the clothes.

As soon as he gave her the figure, she realized she did not have enough money. She bit her lip, thinking of how to get the clothes anyway. She could grab them and make a run for it, but that wasn't exactly her style. Plus, if the man had any bender friends, or if he was a bender himself, she'd never make it away.

"That's too much," she finally told him.

He looked her up and down, then moved his glasses up on his face. "What did you say?"

Zhu Li realized that she had mumbled. A bad habit, from years of nobody caring what she had to say.

"I said it's too much. The going rate for clothing is half what you're charging."

The man frowned. "Listen here," he said. "I don't give a lionturtle's bottom what the going rate is, this is how much it costs!"

She pressed: "Nobody will buy from you, then."

She turned and walked away. One, two, three, four, she counted in her head as she walked.

"Alright, young lady!" the man cried. "Come on, I'll give it to you for your price. How old are you anyway? You're too young to drive such a hard bargain."

Zhu Li didn't reply. She was 12, but if she told this man that, he would find a way to use it against her.

She took the clothes, then wandered back the way she'd come.

But before she could leave, a black-haired boy came flying through the air towards her. And she realized two things.

#1: the boy was one of the earth-benders she had seen before.

And #2: he was going to crash into her.

She had no time to get out of the way. He hit her, and she fell flat on her back, crying out and dropping the clothes.

The black-haired boy got up instantly. "Pew-ew!" he said. "You're a real stinker!"

Zhu Li stood up, ignoring his comment. She knew that she smelled, and it was because her parents did not let her shower every day - they said it used too much water.

She grabbed her new clothes off the ground, but had little time to get away before the black-haired boy let forth a battle cry.

As he took a fighting stance, she saw that a blond-haired kid was approaching. The black-haired boy lifted his hand up, and a chunk of rock separated from the ground. He gestured towards the blond-haired kid, and the rock flew.

The blond-haired boy jumped to the side, then he kept running. He leaped into the air, then kicked, releasing fire at the black-haired earthbender next to her.

The earthbender brought up a pillar of rock to extinguish it, but the firebender just leaped onto the earth. He punched, releasing fire again at the earthbender. The earthbender ducked, at the same time pushing down on the pillar of earth, and the firebender lost his balance.

He tried to punch again, and this time the fire shot straight at her. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. The fire hit the clothes in her hands, and they went up in flames.

She dropped the clothes, her mind numb as she watched the hot fire eat away at her hopes and dreams for making friends at school until they were nothing more than a burnt pile of soot. Smoke rose up and filled her nostrils, and she coughed. She was heaving now, breathing hard in and out in rapid bursts, and she felt like tears were coming, but she held them in.

"My bad," a voice said, but she didn't want to look up at who it was. She was just focused on holding in her tears, and trying not to cry.

"That ain't what you're supposed to say, Botan!" another voice, which she recognized as the earthbender's, said.

"Why?" the first voice, who she figured was Botan, said.

"Cause you're supposed to say I'm sorry!" the second voice replied.

She looked up, remaining as composed as she could, and made eye-contact with the two boys.

"My friend and I are sorry," the earthbender said.

She nodded. She turned and walked away. They weren't really sorry, she thought. They had destroyed her clothes. She'd spent her lunch money on them. Now she had no lunch and no clothes.

She went home. There was nowhere else to go. She kicked rocks while traveling, imagining she was an earthbender. If she had been born one, maybe she'd be better liked. But neither of her parents were benders. It did not run in her blood.

She stopped on the way home by the bay. From here she could see Air Temple Island. What might it be like to be an airbender, she wondered. The only airbender left alive was Aang's kid, Tenzin. She had never met him. If she had been born an airbender, she would have had some value, some meaning. The girls at school would have loved her, they would have called her special.

She glanced down a ways, and saw the large statue of Aang himself in the bay. He looked peaceful, standing there with a long pole that she figured must be his folded-up glider. She wondered if Aang would have treated her the way that other kids did. He had only been a kid, she recalled, when he defeated the Fire Nation after the Hundred Years War.

She turned and left the bay. There was not far to go now, to arrive home. Just another couple blocks, and then she would have to deal with all sorts of issues.

Her mother was crying when she stepped through the door. She did not know why, though her mother often cried, so it was not out of the ordinary. She went to her mother and crouched down.

"What's wrong?" she said.

Xiu looked up at her. "Your father is wrong," she said.

So they were in a fight again. No surprise there.

A moment later her father came into the room. He said: "The bed is not even made."

Zhu Li collapsed into the shadows, watching them.

"I'm sorry," her mother said, standing up.

"Apologies mean nothing," her father said. "I need action."

Her mother said nothing.

"What time did you wake up this morning?" her father asked.

"Does it matter?" her mother replied.

"Yes, it matters!" her father said. "I cannot stand to live with a bum."

Her mother whimpered.

"How many times must I remind you of these things? I work hard all day, now poor Zhu Li will have nothing to eat because you've been what - painting all day?"

Her mother let forth a short-lived, but loud, sob.

"What time did you get out of bed this morning?" he asked again.

Her mother didn't answer immediately. But after a sigh of heartache, she said: "Ten o'clock."

"Unbelievable," her father rolled his eyes, and held his hands up. "You are a bum! I live with a bum."

Her mother croaked: "Then maybe you should move out."

Zhu Li frowned. This was something new. Her mother never spoke up to her father.

"What did you say?" he asked her.

"You heard me," her mother said, louder this time. "I said you should move out."

"Why would I move out?" he said. "Don't be ridiculous."

Her mother had an entirely new look to her now. She was angry - and a wildfire burned in her eyes. The tears had dried up, and she yelled now, spitting as she spoke.

"You do nothing but try to control me," she said. "You call me a bum, and everything I do is criticized. Why on earth is it ridiculous for me to ask you to move out?"

"Because we are married," her father replied. "You should try to-."

"No," her mother spat. "I'm done with you. I want a divorce."

Zhu Li's heart stopped for a moment. Her father's face was complete shock. She felt tears stream down her face now, unable to stop them. The accumulation of all she'd been through today. All she had wanted was some nice clothes, and to come home to her parents in an average mood. Now her clothes were burnt, and her parents were leaving each other. Living with them was unpleasant, for sure, but she did not want a broken family. Everything would be worse. Especially school.

Her father eventually collected himself.

"You're not serious," he said.

"Yes, I am," her mother said. She had calmed down somewhat, but still remained forceful.

"We are not getting divorced," he said. "You will shape up, and-."

"We're getting divorced," her mother said. "I have been thinking about it a long time, Sheng, and I mean what I say."

Her father began to seethe with anger. He marched on over to the corner, where Zhu Li saw that one of her mother's paintings was drying. It was a landscape of the bay, with the sun setting in the background, illuminating the Avatar's face from behind.

She got one good look at it, and she thought that it was beautiful. People did not often purchase her mother's artwork, but this piece, she felt, would be purchased for sure.

"Go rot in the spirit realm," her father said, and then he kicked the painting, sending it to the floor. Her mother screamed. He stomped on it, making huge holes in the canvas until it was nothing more than shreds.

Then he walked out of the house and slammed the door.


	2. Interim

Thanks for your patience!

This update is to let anyone know I don't feel ready to release the rest of Zhu-Li's chapters right now. I am not sure when I might release them...

If you want to read them, please send me a message or leave a review! Any requests could inspire me to release them sooner rather than later.

Otherwise, I will update when I feel ready.


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